


Harbinger of Death

by OccultDaddy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Child Neglect, Child Stiles Stilinski, Creature Stiles Stilinski, Female Stiles Stilinski, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26938813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccultDaddy/pseuds/OccultDaddy
Summary: There are many myths of harbingers. Banshees, dullahan, drekavac, and wichtlein are some among many. Often it is too late to change the deadly fate that they have foretold. The wails of warning only preparing the doomed and their close ones for the worst. However, sometimes the Fates smile upon the creatures of curious and stubborn natures
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

Mieczysława was a curious and wild child adored by her parents. Her eyes, big and amber brown, were filled with mischief and a sense of knowledge beyond understanding. Those who did not know her were unnerved by her inquisitive stare, as if she could uncover one's deepest darkest secrets if she looked long enough. She easily filled silence with chatter and questions about anything and everything. Questions that sometimes made adults stumble because they didn't realise that 'I don't know.' was just as an acceptable answer as a definite one. If not better. 'Because that's just how it is.' was the most frustrating answer for little Mieczysława to receive and often sent her into a fit of anger that only her family could calm down. Sometimes only her mother. Her father wasn't always as capable to handle his unruly child or her constant barrage of questions, but he adored her all the same. Claudia, her mother and his wife, was the same. Sure she had mellowed down with the years, but he remembered the first time they met in her teens. He almost couldn't stand her then, but now he adored her more than anything else in the world. Same with their little daughter. Even if they left him a little exasperated at times. 

Little did they know Claudia was slowly growing sicker by the day. She hid the symptoms as long as she could. Maybe she knew or maybe she thought it was something that would pass. Either way she didn't want to worry her husband and child, so she played off her growing forgetfulness when she could not hide it. At first it was just small mundane things such as forgotten keys and leaving things on the stove. Anyone could do that. The first time she forgot to pick up Mieczysława she blamed it on lack of sleep and being tired. They all soothed her guilt by saying that happens sometimes. Worried eyes looked upon them as it kept happening. At one point Mieczysława walked home herself, she didn't want her mother sad like the last time. Though it only made Claudia feel more apologetic. It wasn't safe for a child to walk all the way home from school. In their little family they knew Claudia kept forgetting it, but to onlookers Mieczysława argued and fought to convince people it was her idea. She lied to everyone else that she had told her mom she'd be getting a ride and instead would be walking home herself. Because she was independent and strong. Her brave face and stubborn tone of voice convinced many, despite the hurt she hid to herself.

When Noah Stilinski heard his wife sweetly ask their daughter for her name and if she was lost, he took Claudia to the hospital. She was sick and there wasn't much the doctor could do about it. They could only give medication to slow it down slightly and help improve the quality of the rest of her life. Which wasn't long. If they had discovered it sooner maybe she could have lived a longer life, but her illness had progressed so much already. The memory losses were on and off, but even when she remembered it wasn't a good time. As much as Mieczysława and Noah tried to keep the mood up, Claudia constantly felt guilty and depressed. She did try to give as much love and comfort to her daughter whenever she could. However after countless times of coming to her senses seeing her precious child scared or sad she couldn't bring herself to keep doing it. Despite Mieczysława being able to quickly hide her emotions behind a goofy grin and a joke. That hurt almost as much. 

Most of the time during her memory losses it was mostly their child she forgot and the most recent years. While Noah was worried, he didn't notice how bad it was getting. He spent a lot of hours at the station and only experienced some of them. It was like having a younger Claudia with him again, although it hurt him that she couldn't remember their child. However when she started getting apathetic towards him as well he regretted letting Mieczysława be alone with her mother. How could he have let a child be alone with Claudia? It wasn't good for any of them. He started bringing Mieczysława with him to work when she was done at school. The officers, other deputies, and even the sheriff were more than happy to see her there. She got to do homework by the desk and make strangers nervous at her inquisitive looks. Some of the younger officers started to call her their little genius interrogator. He had neighbours and friends to look after Claudia when he was at work while he was looking into getting a nurse to stay with her. It was expensive, but he'd rather have her at home. In hopes of having her in a familiar environment would help with the memory.

The sickness wasn't only affecting her memory. Her muscles grew weaker as well and her coordination got worse. She was bedridden most of the time and eventually Noah just couldn't take good care of her at home. Even if he got more time off work, there wasn't much he could do when she would inevitably have problems with her bladder and eating. She was admitted to the hospital and Mieczysława started spending some of her time after school there. She grew tired of people pronouncing her name wrong when she didn't get to hear her mom say it either. Mischief was a nickname only her parents got to use, so she insisted on being called Stiles instead. It was a nickname that had been in the Stilinski family for a long time. Shifting to the new nickname was easy for everyone, though at the station she got a larger variety of nicknames. They got to know a kind nurse, Melissa, at the hospital that had a boy Stiles' age. Though neither adult said it, they both figured it would be nice for Stiles to make more friends her age. Though as Claudia got sicker the more Stiles refused the idea to go anywhere or be with anyone but her parents. She didn't enjoy being at the station anymore and would rather sit quietly in the corner of the hospital bed or even just outside of the hospital room. 

When Claudia died, Stiles was alone with her in the room. Her immune system was ruined and it had been an infection that had taken her life. Stiles froze still, or rather broke as it happened. Nurses and doctors gently removed her from the room as they tried to save Claudia, to no avail. The room span and she couldn't breathe. She wanted to scream, but couldn't move besides shaking. If someone tried to help her, she didn't notice. Not until she was in the warm embrace of her father, telling her to breathe. Only then did she start crying. A loud weeping that was hardly muffled even as she pressed her face into her father's shoulder. It was only briefly interrupted by tiny gasps for air in between. Her face was snotty and her tiny hand was grasping onto her father's jacket as firmly as she could. Already afraid of losing him too. Noah cried as well. He didn't make much noise, if any at all, but his body was shaking. Hearing his daughter's sobs was making it even more heartbreaking. He wasn't sure how they would go on without Claudia. 

While Noah didn't expect his daughter to jump back to how she usually was straight away, it was an alien feeling to see her so quiet. Maybe it was because she had done her best to cheer up Claudia, that it was such a stark contrast to how she acted now. Sometimes when Stiles caught him looking worried she managed to put on the goofy grin, but there was no joke following it. However she started picking up new and strange habits. She would sit or lie down on the floor, staring in one direction. Sometimes she would tilt her head to the side as if she heard something no one else did. The sparkle of mischief in her eyes were gone, but she still looked so much like Claudia. Sometimes it hurt to look at Stiles, and the guilt from that hurt as well. He took to the bottle more than he would dare to admit, glad that for once his daughter didn't barrage him with questions. 

When he started up work again it felt better. He still drank at night, but at work he could distract himself with a purpose. After someone commented on the smell of alcohol on him, he started drinking less. Instead he took up more hours. Sometimes Stiles was with Melissa and her son, other times she had a babysitter. But he couldn't bring himself to ask either of them to watch her all night. Stiles told her dad she'd manage being alone, and he listened. At first it was only a couple of hours and Noah worried if it really was okay for her to be alone. Stiles insisted she was fine, and the hours got longer and longer. When the sitter was unable to watch Stiles anymore, Noah didn't hire a new one. Stiles knew it didn't look good that she was alone as much as she was. She didn't want to worry her father so she lied and told half-truths. She was good at those. No one but them knew truly how often she stayed home alone. 

Normally Noah checked up on his daughter as soon as he came home. However one night after a particularly rough and long shift at the station he took to the bottle instead. He fell asleep on the couch with the bottle in his hand. The next day he woke up to a phone call from the school. They informed him that Stiles hadn't shown up to school. However they had noticed she was still grieving, so it was understandable if she needed a day off or two. Noah figured they could spend the day together since she was already home. The sheriff would be glad to hear that he would take the day off as he had insisted. When he walked into Stiles' room and didn't see her his heart sank. Then he remembered Melissa had a night shift that day. It would make sense that Stiles had gone to her house alone. He tried to ignore the open window that was facing towards the big tree by their house. He quickly rang Melissa up and calmly asked if Stiles were there. 

She wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on my phone because appearently I get more writing done that way. Hopefully next chapter is coming asap because I have it all planned out. I'll add more tags too then.


	2. Chapter 2

Nights were a time of comfort and freedom for Peter. It was a time where his sister Talia didn't get to try to control him. Not that she ever managed to do so the rest of the day. She had given up on the nights though, only asking him to at least not be obvious about sneaking out. She didn't want her little brother giving her children any ideas that it was okay to do so. Not that it mattered. Not only did the eldest, Laura, do it more than Peter did. Recently even her 14 year old son, Derek, had started sneaking out. He hated that his sister tried to act like his mother, but then again Laura was only two years younger than him. Even Peter could get why. Didn't mean he had to like it though.

This particular night however he was satisfied with smoking some dubious 'herbes' he'd bought from a self-proclaimed magus. Whatever that was. He'd looked up the term online, in his family tomes, and even a hunter's bestiary. The term was either omitted completely, briefly listed, or argued over. He wouldn't be surprised if it was just a witch that used it to avoid the attention of hunters. Although they didn't smell like most witches. Sure, the so-called magus smelled like a strange concoction of dangerous plants, animal blood, and static electricity. But ultimately very human under all that. He was leaning out the window to minimize the scent, though he doubted that it would be enough to hide the smell if Talia walked into his room. There was music blaring in his ears, thank the gods for active noise canceling headphones.

Suddenly the door opened and he almost dropped the joint. Talia would kill him for smoking some dubious shit a stranger sold him, but not as much as she'd kill him for setting the preserve on fire though. Luckily it was just his youngest niece, Cora. Who was by far his favourite, which he proudly told Laura all the time. Peter turned down the sound and moved the headphones so he could hear both his niece and the music. He took another drag, not worrying about Cora telling Talia later. After all his 10 year old niece had said _"I'm not a fucking snitch"_ the other day with a serious look on her face. He wonders who taught her to swear first. Considering Cora's good hearing, even among other werewolves, he wouldn't be surprised if she had heard it from Talia first. Or her husband. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he expected a snarky response. When she only furrowed her brows, he got slightly worried and paused the music. He was about to ask her what was up, but she explained it before he had to. "There's a strange sound outside." Peter put away his headphones and listened. Maybe active noise cancelling wasn't such a blessing. He'd been sitting here with his head out of the window and hadn't noticed anything.

When Peter hears a sound he doesn't need to ask Cora for confirmation, because as soon as they heard it she got closer to him. She also made sure that he was shielding her from the window. It was hard to notice when Cora was scared, she mastered a scowl like no one else. He looked forward to her teenage years where she'd be a terror to all the boys and girls that would crush on her. Now though she was scared, although he's sure she'd never admit it, from a strange sound from the preserve. The sound goes off again and Cora gets even closer. It's an awful sound. It's a scream that almost sounds human, but not quite. It also sounds like an animal in extreme pain. There's another scream and Cora is now clinging to him. Peter puts out the joint and closes the window.  
"It's a fox. It's strange how close it is considering foxes don't like wolves."  
"How do you know?"  
"Your uncle Peter knows many things."  
Cora still looks unsure and definitely like she doesn't wanna go back to her room. Peter sighs and hands her his headphones. She grins and heads back to her room, seemingly pretty pleased to get to borrow his headphones. If this was all an elaborate scheme to get his headphones he's impressed. Though pretty annoyed because he's sure Talia would just buy Cora some if she asked. 

The morning after Cora, Derek, and Laura leaves for school while Talia goes to work. Which means he's alone with her husband Thomas. Which is fine. He'd rather be stuck alone with Thomas than Talia. Though even Thomas makes him get out of bed before noon, if only because he doesn't want Peter to miss out on a nice day. If he notices the strange smell from the previous night he doesn't comment on it. Thomas is nice enough to cook Peter breakfast. It is definitely one of the smartest things his sister has done, found herself a husband who can cook. Because he would not eat Talia's cooking and he'd pity anyone who claimed they would.  
"By the way. Cora and I heard a strange sound last night. I think it was a fox."  
"Probably was."  
"Here? In hearing rage of werewolves?"  
Thomas did seem to consider it briefly, but seemed to be content with the answer. "You and especially Cora don't count when talking about hearing range. Maybe you two should take over my job." Thomas smiled and put down a plate of breakfast in front of him. Peter never bothered learning Thomas' official job title, his job being some variation of a forest ranger. Which meant he got paid to do what was already a part of his pack duties. If Peter didn't have higher ambitions he wouldn't mind that, and he wouldn't be surprised if Cora did end up in the same line of work when she got older. She preferred the forest to most people.

Peter was wondering if he should go bother Derek and Laura at the high school today. He graduated last year and put off university for one year, which Talia through was a good idea. Partly because she wanted to convince him to go somewhere close to Beacon Hills. Keep the family and pack close to home. His thoughts were interrupted by Thomas' phone ringing. Most of the time his phone calls were boring to listen in on, but those few rare interesting moments were worth paying attention to. Thomas answered the phone and his usual smile fell away when he was told to search the preserve for a child. Even if Thomas was the best choice for finding people who had gotten lost, it was a dangerous place for children. Especially if this had happened during the night. It seemed that the daughter of deputy Stilinski had gone missing. Thomas didn't hesitate to get to work. She was the same age as Cora and Peter wondered if they knew each other. He thinks back to his niece talking about her classmates. Cora had mentioned a girl she thought was funny, asking all sorts of questions to the teachers. Then not long ago Cora had said that classes were less fun now that she reeked of sadness and mostly just stared out the window or at nothing. "I'll help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is getting clonger than I planned.  
> Some ages I didn't mention: Laura is 17 and Peter is 19. Talia is almost twice Peter's age.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter and Thomas walked together through the preserve, their senses on alert. They had been given a quite detailed description of Stiles, though any 10 year old in the woods alone would be a cause for concern. He guessed it was in case she wasn't alone. Which was a grim thought. Thomas was a caring and soft hearted man, while Peter wouldn't say he gave much of a shit about people who weren't his pack. If it had been someone his age or older that had gone missing he probably wouldn't care, beyond wanting to solve a mystery at least. Though with Stilinski's daughter it was easy to imagine what if it had been Cora. It didn't help that there seemed to be some similarities between them. Brown eyes, brown hair, and a wild personality. Before her mother's death at least.

They didn't have any scent to go on, because that would be a weird request to ask of a panicked and worried father. Not to say that Peter didn't suggest that he should just go steal something of hers. Which was something that earned him a smack at the back of his head from Thomas. For once he'd admit that he earned that. Though they would probably manage fine without knowing her scent anyways. Peter does know what deputy Stilinski smells like. He's been at the station quite a bit, much to Talia's chagrin. He smelled of coffee, gunpowder, and apples. Lately that sweet and slightly tart scent of apples had been replaced by alcohol. Worryingly much so. Normally if people had been drinking he could still smell their regular scent under it, not with Stilinski. He'd definitely bring it up with Talia and Thomas after Stiles had been found.

Both of them were so focused on trying to find any traces of a human girl that when that hellish fox scream appeared Peter jumped. If he had been closer to Thomas he would probably have grabbed onto his jacket sleeve. Which was a realization Peter would take to the grave with him. "What the fuck?" Seems like it took Thomas by surprise too. Peter looked for the source of the sound and briefly saw a small white fox run away to hide. A kit? Not only did foxes mostly scream at night, they were usually mating calls. Not something such a small fox would make. He looked over to Thomas, but it seemed that he had resumed his focus on the search. Yet something in Peter couldn't give up on this mystery. He could probably catch the fox kit and look for Stiles at the same time. "We're not covering enough ground like this. Let's split off." Peter took off in the direction after the fox before Thomas could agree or argue. 

For some reason it was more difficult to catch up with and grab the fox than Peter had imagined. He had to briefly shift to scoop up the little thing. Maybe if he had been a little rougher with it he could have done it more easily. However since it was just a kit he didn't want to hurt it. The fur was almost completely white. He would have assumed it was an albino if it weren't for the black nose and bright amber eyes. It was eerily comfortable with letting a werewolf hold it now that he first had gotten a hold of it. The little fox looked at him with such intensity and curiosity, there was no way it was a regular fox. It started making noises and Peter braced himself for a scream. It never came, not with the same intensity it had previously at least. The sounds were small noisy barks like you'd expect from such a small fox. Like it was calling for its mother… Peter cringed and hoped he hadn't just snatched a kit from its mother. He resumed looking for Stiles while carrying the kit with him.

After hours of not finding a single trace of a human child he returned home. Peter noticed his sister on the phone, somehow even more serious than usual, and Cora sitting outside drawing. It didn't take long for her to notice him. She snapped her head up before running off to meet him. "Were you out with dad?" Peter wasn't sure how much she knew, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell her. "Yeah, all I found was our noisy perpetrator though." Cora finally focused on the little creature Peter was holding carefully. He crouched down so she could get a proper look and the fox looked back at her. She quickly covered her ears, but no loud noises came from the kit. Sure it wasn't completely quiet, but there were no screaming or even small barks. Peter found himself even more intrigued by the little fox.

Peter looked over to Talia who was still in her phone conversation, but definitely had noticed him. Cora seemed to want to hold the fox, but he didn't want to hand it over. Partly because he was worried she'd accidentally hurt it. Cora loved any kind of animal she set her eyes on, but she was only 10. She didn't have control of her strength just yet. Mostly though he just didn't want to hand it over at all. Maybe the little kit had cast a spell on him. More than anything he wanted to care for it. Peter stood up and Cora did not pout, because she never pouts. When he looked back to Talia she had finished the conversation and started heading towards them. "Cora go inside. You can watch some tv if you'd like." Talia told her daughter whose not-pout got replaced with a grin. She totally expected to be told to do her homework, so she was more than happy to run inside before she got that order instead.  
"Where's Thomas? Did you find anything?"  
"We split up. I didn't and I assume he would have called or texted if he did."  
Okay Peter hadn't been checking his phone much, but his phone was on vibration so he would have noticed if Thomas had tried to contact him.

Talia shifted her focus to the fox and like earlier the fox looked back. Peter thinks she was about to ask about it when the fox screamed. It was loud and painful. In more than one way. The volume on the kit made his head pound, but it sounded like the fox was in pain too. Talia quickly backed away and as much as Peter wanted to cover his ears, he didn't want to let the fox go. He hoped that his sister wouldn't take it out on the fox. If she insured its safety he'd even let it go. "What the fuck?" Came quietly from his older sister.  
"I know it sounds hellish, but it's just a kit. I'm sure it's harml-"  
"Peter your ears are bleeding!" Talia interrupted. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I like having a lot of insight to a character in my writing so I should have known this would be longer than planned.


	4. Chapter 4

"Peter, put it down." Normally when Talia barked orders it was annoying. Sure she was his alpha, but she was also his sister. Even though she was almost old enough to be his mom. Now though, it almost sounded more like a plea. Peter however had no doubt that she would use her 'Alpha' voice to make him if he kept resisting her. "I don't want to." he mumbled mostly to himself, though with werewolf hearing there was no doubt Talia heard him. Unless the kit somehow had affected her ears worse than his. Peter looked at the kit like it had betrayed him, though he wasn't really mad at it. If anything he was even more intrigued. The fox titled its head, giving him an inquisitive look. There was intelligence behind those eyes, but at the level of a child. Which made sense since it wasn't an adult fox.

"I can't check if you're fine from here. It's likely that it will scream again if I get closer." Logic. It was Peter's favourite tool, but he wasn't so sure he liked it turned against him. It pained him that she was right, but he could feel a low growl at the back of his throat. Surely the task of guarding this kit had fallen to him. Peter had werewolf healing, he could handle a little ear bleeding. "I promise I won't touch it. Like you said: It's just a kit." As much as he disliked his sister at times, he knew she wouldn't break promises. Not on purpose at least. There was some hesitation, but eventually he carefully put down the fox. At least he had gotten some clues from the ehole ordeal. The fox wandered off, but it was still within viewing distance. Strange. Talia rushed over to Peter, checking both of his ears. He wasn't really sure what she'd learn from it. Surely the bleeding had stopped by now. "I'm fine. Really." She hugged him, which was something Peter wouldn't complain about. Even he enjoyed the comfort that the touch of one's Alpha provided. There was a buzzing in his pocket and he fished up his phone. Talia wasn't really making it easier on him to do so. It was a text from Thomas. "Thomas is on his way back, he didn't find anything either."

Peter had followed Talia back inside and they sat by the kitchen table. Occasionally he'd hear the fox scream, glad to know that it hadn't gone too far away from the house. "So who were you talking to on the phone earlier?" Peter would prefer to steer the conversation away from what had just happened. "The rest of the pack. They're coming tomorrow. I suggested we postpone it, but they insisted." he had almost forgotten about it. Talia was usually the one that were the most eager to gather the pack under one roof. Stiles' disappearance must have troubled her as well. Peter was going to ask about it when Thomas walked in. "That fuc-fox scared me." He had caught his swear, guess they didn't know Cora swore yet. She was good at limiting the use of it to give a good impact. He was incredibly proud of her.  
"Peter, you don't just split up without planning which areas each person should cover."  
"It's fine. You smelled where I had been, didn't you?"  
Seeing how Talia didn't jump on the scolding like she usually would, Thomas dropped it. Though Peter was pretty sure he'd bring it up later. It was a part of the pack duties after all. He knows that.  
"So, what's going on here?"  
"Peter carried home that infernal-screeching fox."  
Peter wanted to protest at that description, but she wasn't wrong. "It screamed when I got close to it and Peter started to bleed from his ears. A ruptured eardrum I would guess." Thomas looked worried and Peter knew he had to interject before he made some annoying suggestion to make Deaton take a look at it. "It healed right away. And it's clearly you two there's something wrong with. It didn't scream at Cora or myself. Did you really not find anything either?" Both Talia and Thomas frowned at that. If he had brought up Stiles just to change topics he would have felt like an asshole. He knew he was an asshole to many, but that would have actually made him feel kinda bad. However he wanted to know. He wanted to find her just as much as he wanted to protect the fox. Though maybe them being on the same level was a little skewed.  
"No. I briefly thought I had maybe found something at the edge of the preserve, but it didn't lead anywhere."  
"I told you I should have gone to steal something so we could get her scent."  
The second slap at the back of his head and scolding from Talia was definitely one he deserved.

Talia and Thomas continued the conversation without him and he went up to his room. Cora scurried up the stairs past him in a real hurry, it was a funny sight. Before he got to his room she was there, handing back the headphones she had borrowed.  
"Worried I'd look through your stuff for it?"  
"You wouldn't."  
"Well not now that you have given it back."  
Peter grinned at her and walked into his room before she could think of what to say back, closing the door behind him. He felt exhausted and lied down on his bed. His mind was going through everything that had happened. So a screaming fox appears one night and the next day someone's daughter disappears. The fox screams around Talia and Thomas, is noisy around himself, and relatively quiet around Cora. It being an age thing seems too obvious, though he can't overlook it. Peter should probably just open his laptop to look at the bestiary, instead he does the more foolish option. _'What do you know of screaming foxes?'_ he texts to the person he has saved as Enfoiré in his phone. Peter falls asleep before he gets a reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapters are short lol, but I'm just going with what feels natural. Also I wrote it on the bus with minimal sleep so hopefully there were no dodgy sentences.


	5. Chapter 5

Peter wakes from his sleep by Laura barging into his room. He pulls his blanket over his head in an attempt to ignore her. She's only two years younger than him, but she seems like such a brat sometimes. It's strange to think that in the future she'd inherit the Alpha spark. Peter likes to joke about how he'll rip it out of her incapable hands in the future. Talia hates that one despite being able to tell he's only joking.  
"Dinner time. You can get your beauty sleep during the night like the rest of us.”  
"You get beauty sleep? You should ask for a refund. It's not helping."   
"Ha ha, very funny. I'm going to eat your share if you don't come down."  
Only when Laura had left his room did he sit up. Peter checked his phone as he went down the stairs, he'd gotten a reply from last night.  
 _'This better not be a bad pickup line. Also I'm not that old.'_  
 _'You're the only one talking about age. And no, it's not. I'm asking you as a hunter.'_

Honestly he should have just let Laura eat his share, but he didn't want to have Talia come worried to his room. Especially because it still smelled of that concoction he smoked last night.  
"Who are you texting?" Laura asked, snoopy as ever  
"A dude who wants feet pics and nudes. I told him it's at least a hundred thousand for feet pics, and that he can't afford my nudes."  
Only Laura laughed at that and unfortunately Talia’s reaction wasn’t very funny. He likes to imagine that Cora would have been slightly amused had she been older. Peter shoved his phone into his pocket and sat down at the kitchen table with the rest of the family.

Peter didn't eat much that dinner, his mind was on the missing kid and the fox outside. Was it really coincident that it showed up outside their house the night before Stilinski noticed his daughter was gone? The scent of Derek also distracted him. Lately he had started to sneak out at night. Peter suspected it wasn't quite for the same reasons Laura did. Laura liked to party and be at the centre of attention. Both good and bad. Derek however was quieter. Cocky for sure, but kept to his own close circle. When he started sneaking out he smelled like perfume. Like a girl who just started wearing it, the smell of it being so intense because she didn't know how much she should use. He's surprised that Derek hadn't told her to tone it down. It must be even worse in person than just the smell that lingered on his nephew. Although Peter supposes that would be hard for him, especially if he really liked the girl.

After dinner he dragged Laura and Derek outside to meet the fox. No protests from Talia would deter him, but they did promise to be careful. The phone buzzed while Derek carefully went over to it. _'I don’t exactly hunt foxes. Nothing comes to mind. Besides didn't I give you a copy of the bestiary so you wouldn't have to text me?'_ The reply read and Peter briefly looked up when he heard no noise from the fox. It almost looked like it was trying to comfort Derek. Strange. _'The screaming is too distracting. Besides, you enjoy my texts.'_ He pocketed his phone just in time to avoid Laura looking at his screen. She didn't need to know that he was texting a hunter. Preferably no one would. Laura went over to the fox next and this time Peter paid close attention. It looked pretty long at her, and it seemed like it wasn't going to scream, until it did. However it was relatively quiet and it somehow sounded distant.

Peter wished he could have taken the fox in with him, Cora would have loved that too, but Talia said no. If it weren't such a loud little thing Peter would have just snuck it in. His phone had gone off twice since the last message he had sent, however he wanted the privacy of his room before checking it. Peter locked the door to his room. He normally didn't, but he could use some uninterrupted time to think. _'Peter.'_ was the first text. A warning that was followed by a simple _'I need more information than that if I'm going to help.'_ He could imagine the resigned sigh between the two messages. Though he was glad he had decided to be willing to help, however hesitant. _'Can we talk instead of text?'_ immediately after he sent the text he kinda regretted it. Peter wondered if he pushed the boundaries a bit too much. After waiting what felt like forever Peter was about to give up when his phone rang.

* * *

Super early next morning Peter woke up to plenty of noise from downstairs. Of course the pack had to start coming in as early as, Peter looked at the time, before six in the morning. He was close to murderous when he walked down the stairs. Normally Peter quite cared for his looks, but now his hair was messy and he'd just thrown on an oversized hoodie and shorts. He's sure he looks ridiculous, to his own standards at least. “Some of us enjoy sleeping until at least after sunrise, you know.” He said as he got down the stairs. The response came in the form of a hug from his uncle that lifted him off the ground. “Gods, aren’t you too old to be lifting around Peter?” Talia said, amusement clear in her in her voice. She had a couple of their cousin’s kids trying to climb up her back, only for Talia to throw them over her shoulder like two sacs of potatoes. “Never too old to carry around little Peter, even if he grows to be bigger and stronger than me.” Of course their uncle and his grand-kids were the ones to arrive first, the loudest and rowdiest bunch of the family. Though as much as he’d complain about the noise he was extremely happy to see his family and pack. It was strange that the house had been so empty for as long as it had.  
“Is Gram on the way home too?” Peter asked.  
“Yeah, Locke and her kids are picking her up from the airport in a couple of hours.”

Talia and Peter’s sister were only three years younger than Talia so it was still a big age gap between her and Peter. However Locke acted more like a sister since she didn’t have the responsibility of being his alpha and caretaker like Talia did. Everyone knows Peter wasn't planned and after having spent an entire night of binge watching old Bob Ross videos she had taken to calling Peter the Hale family's happy little accident. He was looking forward to see Locke and Gram again.  
“Can I go back to sleep? Preferably my bed.”  
“No murdering?” His uncle asked with a grin.  
“Not this early in the morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got tired of looking at this chapter so here it is. Next chapter will have some content that can be triggering. I'll add it in tags and also chapter notes in the beginning.


End file.
